When J&J Learned of Implant Problems

By

Jonathan D. Rockoff

Updated Jan. 23, 2013 1:55 p.m. ET

Johnson & Johnson officials learned of problems with a metal hip-replacement implant in 2008, a year before the company stopped making the joints and two years before recalling them, according to documents unsealed in a California state court.

In 2011, one J&J internal analysis found that nearly 36% of the devices were expected to fail within five years, according to the documents, filed in the first personal-injury lawsuit...